The Infected Ones
by SilverBelle04
Summary: Lilykit just wants to be an ordinary ThunderClan medicine cat, serving her Clan. But when a deadly disease sweeps through her home, she must find a way to cure it... or all the cats around the lake will fall to the infection.
1. Prologue

A gentle breeze stirred the ferns as the tomcat stalked closer to his prey. The tom, his dark brown tabby pelt blending in with the grass and earth, silently crept closer to the vole, his muscles tense and ready to spring.

Closer… Closer…

The tom pounced. His paws slammed down onto the vole's back. The creature's thin squeal of terror died out as he unsheathed his claws, digging them into the vole's throat.

 _Yes!_ Feeling triumphant, the tom turned to bury his prey underneath a bush. He would pick it up later when he was done hunting.

Suddenly the tom felt hot breath on his hindquarters. He whipped around and saw three huge dogs standing in front of him, their eyes gleaming at the thought of an easy kill.

But there was something different about these dogs. Something just felt… _off._ The tom couldn't find the words to describe it. Their eyes were a little too wild, their steps a little too clumsy. Even their mouths… foam gushed out of them, dripping onto the ground. All three had a jagged bite mark somewhere on their necks, showing red and angry and covered with flies. The tom turned and sprinted away, his pelt bushed up in fear.

The dogs gave chase.

One dog, a big black and white male mutt, bolted up to the cat and lashed out with one forepaw at the cat's left hind leg. The tom tripped and fell to the ground.

The black and white dog leaned over him, pinning him down. The tom let out a hiss of rage and slashed his claws across his cheek. The dog didn't even flinch. He was focused on nothing but his _prey._

 _The hunter becomes the hunted,_ the tom thought. Before the tom could slither out from underneath the dog, the dog lurched downward and wrapped his jaws around the tom's neck.

The tom felt the beast's teeth sink into his throat. He screeched and clawed the dog's muzzle, and then twisted his head backward to bite the loose skin above his eye. The dog yelped and dropped the tom, then turned and fled into the bushes with his two companions at his heels.

The tom started to limp away, blood gushing out of his throat and staining the fur on his chest. _I need to get back to Alderheart and Jayfeather. They'll know what to do._

But the wound was starting to overpower him. The tom fell twitching to the ground. All his limbs started to spasm, and his eyes closed as he started to feel faint, the world spiraling away into blackness.

The tom suddenly felt something snap inside of him. He rose to his paws, feeling suddenly empty of all emotion. He felt as if everything was a threat to him now, and those threats needed to be eliminated. Shaking out his pelt, he turned and stalked toward the camp, foam and drool coming out of his mouth.

Meanwhile, a very young she-cat crouched underneath a nearby bush. She watched with wide, startled green eyes as the tom left. Feeling more terrified than she ever had before, she bolted away as fast as her paws could carry her.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Lilykit woke with a start, her pelt bristling. What had happened? She remembered a dream… no, it was more like a nightmare. She remembered dogs, so many dogs, and they were attacking a cat. She let out a mewl of distress and turned to bury her face in her mother's ginger fur. She pawed at her mother's face until she awakened.

Cherryfall raised her head, her amber eyes still bleary with sleep. "Wha...what is it, Lilykit?"

"Mama, I had a nightmare!" Lilykit mewled.

"Oh, you poor dear!" Cherryfall exclaimed. She drew Lilykit closer to her with her tail and lapped her forehead.

"It's ok, the nightmare was not real," Cherryfall soothed. "Come on, it's dawn now. Let's go find you something from the fresh-kill pile."

The queen and the kit stood up, careful not to wake Lilykit's sleeping siblings, and crept out into the camp. Lilykit's pelt, which was orange tabby with a white belly and chest, and white front paws, gleamed in the pale sunlight as she picked out a mouse for herself and settled down next to her mother, who was eating a starling.

"Well, look who's up early!"

Lilykit startled at the sound of her father's voice. She turned to see Stormcloud strutting out from the warrior's den and towards them. He briefly entwined his tail with Cherryfall's, purring, and then licked her ear. He then turned to Lilykit, giving her an affectionate lick on the forehead.

"Aren't you excited? Your apprentice ceremony in only in four sunrises."

"Yeah," Lilykit answered absentmindedly. She was gazing past her father in the direction of the medicine den, where Alderheart was sorting herbs at the entrance. She watched as he carefully put the herbs into neat little piles. She finished her mouse and wandered toward him.

"Hey, Alderheart," She meowed, sitting down and wrapping her tail over her paws.

Alderheart startled at the sound of her voice, then relaxed as he saw her. "Oh, hi, Lilykit. I'm just sorting these herbs."

"Can I help?" Lilykit asked.

"Sure," Alderheart meowed.

Just as Lilykit started into the den, Jayfeather stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"Alderheart!" The blind tabby tom yowled. "Why are you wasting your time talking to a kit?! We have work to do! Don't you think we're busy enough?"

Lilykit backed away, trembling, her green eyes widening.

"S-sorry, Jayfeather. She just wanted to help, that's all."

Jayfeather snorted and prowled toward the fresh-kill pile.

Alderheart turned toward Lilykit. Once Jayfeather was out of earshot, he whispered, "Sorry about him. He's always grumpy, but ever since Leafpool died of greencough, he's been more irritable than usual."

Lilykit opened her jaws to reply, but before she could she felt paws slam down on her tail. She jumped away with a yowl.

"Ha! Got you!"

Lilykit whipped around and yanked her tail free to face her attacker. She saw her brother, Adderkit, and her sister, Fallowkit, standing with mischievous grins on their faces.

"Hey! What did you do that for?!" She snapped.

They did not answer her question. "Come on, Lilykit, let's play." Adderkit meowed. He was pale brown with black speckles on his back and dark amber eyes. "Fallowkit is going to be a ShadowClan warrior, and we have to stop her from getting into camp!"

Lilykit sighed. "Fine…" She cast a longing look at the medicine cat den as she and her littermates left.

"Ready?" Adderkit demanded as he and Lilykit took their places at the front of the camp, standing across from Fallowkit. Fallowkit, who was white with pale brown dapples, a solid pale brown tail, and blue eyes, growled in response.

"ShadowClan, attack!"

"No! ThunderClan will never be beaten by you mangy crow-food eaters!" Adderkit yowled back.

He then lunged at Fallowkit.

Lilykit followed suit and started swiping at her sister, but her heart wasn't in it. She slowly backed away.

"What's wrong, Lilykit?" Adderkit asked.

"Yeah, don't you want to play?" Fallowkit added.

Finally Lilykit couldn't hold in her secret any longer.

"I want to be a medicine cat!"


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2

"From this day forward, this apprentice shall be known as Lilypaw."

Lilypaw held her breath, digging her claws into the ground anxiously as she waited for Bramblestar to tell her who her mentor would be. _I told him I wanted to be a medicine cat; what if he changes his mind? We already have two medicine cats, so what if he thinks we have too many and decides to make me a warrior apprentice?_

"Alderheart, step forward."

 _Yes!_ Happiness flooded through her. She was going to start her medicine cat training at last!

"Lilypaw will be your apprentice," Bramblestar intoned as he stared down at his son.

"She will learn patience and compassion from you as she learns the ancient ways of the medicine cats."

Alderheart nodded. "I won't let her down."

Lilypaw turned to touch noses with her new mentor as Bramblestar sprung down from the Highledge. The muscular tabby then turned and headed into his den.

"Congrats!" Adderpaw and Fallowpaw said in unison, turning towards her. Adderpaw stood next to his new mentor Snowbush, and Fallowpaw stood beside her mentor Hollytuft.

"Thanks, you too!" Lilypaw responded.

"Come on, Lilypaw. Let's start your training." Alderheart said with a flick of his tail.

"Oh, ok." Lilypaw said. She followed Alderheart into the medicine den.

Lilypaw let out a weary sigh as she flopped into her new nest in the medicine cat den. Alderheart and Jayfeather had insisted on putting her through her paces the entire day, starting as soon as the apprentice ceremony had finished at dawn. She laid her chin on her paws and stared out at the sun setting over the beautiful woods that surrounded the ThunderClan camp.

Her gaze rested on the nursery. Her mother would not be sleeping there tonight; she had moved back into the warrior's den. A pang of loneliness shot through her as she remembered the warmth of Cherryfall pressing against her with her littermates by her side.

"Hey, Lilypaw." It was Alderheart.

"Oh, hi."

"By the way, tomorrow is the half-moon. The other medicine cats and I are all going to meet at the Moonpool, and you're going to come with me."

"Really?!" Lilypaw gasped. She was going to share tongues with StarClan!

"Yep! Now get some sleep. You're going to be getting to bed late tomorrow!"

 **Hi, guys! I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, and that new chapters are so few and far between. This story is** ** _very_** **slow going!** **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **Unfortunately, I've been struggling with a bit of writer's block recently. :( I hope to have a new chapter out soon! I really appreciate all the kind reviews 3 Thank you for reading my story, "The Infected Ones"!**


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